Random 5 Friday

 

Linking up with ...

 

@ 

A Rural Journal

 

(1)  All In A Row

My Pretty Mystery Quilt Fabric Strips

ready to sew! 

 

(2) My New Ergonomic Cutting Table is 34" high

 

(3) My New Ergonomic Pressing Board is 35" high

(4) A Fresh Jar of Nutella

Just went shopping and this is a treat!

(5) "The Boy" Is Home!

This makes me very happy.

When we got home from grocery gathering we found this backpack in the living room, which means one of our sons is here for the weekend. 

No truck parked in front of the house. No son to be seen.

He must already be out hanging with his buddies.

 

~ It is all good ~

 

Time to go sew the mystery!

 

Have a happy weekend!

 

<3

  

My Sewing Room Today

Katniss and I welcome  you to  My Sewing Home  today!

Since I just mixed into my new sewing room last fall, I am still in the process of getting everything out of some of the storage boxes and organized.  For many years I was sewing in my dining room and my pretty fabric was hidden away here and there in closets and other out of the way places in my house.  I was always looking for where I put something after I had to clean up for company and holidays. I am still exploring a way to set up a color wall for my fabric.  So my sewing room is a constant  "WIP" while I work on my "WIPs." In October and November I added a lot of posts and photos of  My New Sewing Room if you are interested in more "before and after" pictures and reading.

Thanks for visiting me today!

I am joining in the Linky Party at Sewn and enjoying all the lovely sewing spaces linked there.

Please come in and sit and sew awhile ... or enjoy the NFL playoffs with me today.

Have a happy quilty (and football) day!

Best of luck to all the teams and all the players and all the fans!

Hope to visit your sewing space, too!

:)

Making a Sewing Room Home, Part 2

The valance for the windows in my new sewing room is up.  For this valance I used the leftover pieces from the two Sisterhood of Quilters panels that I cut up a few years back for the quilt.  To this I added other extra fabrics from that quilt.  I had saved the fabric for just such a purpose. 

Also I re-oriented my sewing machine table now that the wall quilt is hung.  I like the new set-up.  My sewing machine now faces the open door to the dining room for easier visiting with family when they pass through.  My quilty kitties seem to like the new set-up, too.  I have a quilt down at sill level for each to claim a window seat.  So far they are still vying for the same window.

Butterfly  reacts to Katniss claiming her spot by jumping up out of reach and looking down on her. Butterfly has always been a climber.  No place in the house is too high for her to jump.  Katniss still has a bit of a problem with the use of her back legs which we think may have been from an old injury from her life as a stray.  Katniss cannot jump up to Butterfly's lofty perches. As you can see from this photo, this has created a bit of hero worship in Katniss.   I think Katniss is definitely wearing down Butterfly's resistance and making inroads to her feline heart.

I have gotten some sewing done in my new room.  Besides the valance, I made some window scarves that Jon requested for his wide sills in his loft. I also got a table topper ready for quilting.  I also made some block for a Quilt and Needle Quilt of Valor for a veteran ...

and some baby blocks for a Q and N Quilty Auntie Project ...

 

These are destined for a Dissapearing 9-Patch baby quilt which the piecer will be cutting and assembling.

Next up: some swap block for next month.

Have a happy quilty day!

 

:-)

Making a Sewing Room a Quilty Home

My Sisterhood of Quilters
are now keeping me company in
 My New Sewing Room

 

Miss Dorian knows me sew well. :)

 

This quilt is one of my favorites.  I started it when I went to the Quilt and Needle Retreat in Texas in March, 2009, so that I could meet some of my online quilty friends.  It is a very special quilt for many reasons.  It is one of Jess Smith's Mystery patterns.  Jess kitted it especially for me from fabrics from her shop to which I added one fabric from my stash from home.  I got to start sewing this one with her and her Mom, Miss Connie, and Miss Cindy, Miss Nancy, Miss Jami, Miss Milica, and Miss Lizzie.  I also got to meet some of my other quilty friends and their families.  The sisterhood of quilter's panel is signed by them.  When I sew now in my quilty room, they keep me company. 

 

To read more about this quilt when I finished and entered it in a Q&N Challenge in 2010 read here.

 



I have always loved the colors in this quilt. 

It was a big job to hang as it is a big quilt.  It takes up the entire wall.  I do have more plans for this wall, too.  These are "coming soon."

I am also adding some easy and inexpensive touches to make my sewing space more efficient and organized.  Some of these items, like the thread racks, I actually won in a basket at a quilt show a few years ago and have never had a place to hang them before.

My quilty kitties are settling in, too ...

Butterfly says "Mine!"

 

Katniss says, "No! Mine!"

 

... while attempting to claim "the best spot" and other feline jostling for position.

Obviously, they both want the nice soft flannel bed by the window. There is some hissy fitting but the fur is starting to settle.  Both are assertive and territorial cats, but they are big marshmallows. The may hiss and growl but their fur does not stand on end and they do not go for the neck. If you do not have cats, this means they are not really fighting.

 Pat says, "Excuse me. Mine!"

 

I am working on "Making a Sewing Room Home Part 2"

 

Have a happy quilty day!

 

:)

 



Sewing Room Move-In Day!

Today was moving-in day.   It has been rainy and dark.

 

I am using a large molded plastic folding table for now for my sewing machine and have it surrounded by my old plastic drawer units.  These rolling drawer units were used in my dining room sewing space. They were rolled away for storage during the holiday season. 

 

Once I had a semblance of order. Some fabrics were organized by color, some by type.  I started a scrap system with some cut scraps organized in drawers by size.  Some fabrics I tucked together in a  drawer with the pattern I had thought to make with them. Eventually some of the drawers became just randomly filled. I have a lot of swap fabrics in the big closet.  I also have a few boxes of accumulated patterns, magazines.  I know I have at least one box that is all "UFOs" that need some finishing.  I now have to take everything out, see what I have and how best to reorganize.  Well, I now have plenty of space to this.  Someday I hope to have a built-in storage wall for my fabric.  For the moment I am very happy to make do with what I have. 

My new sewing space

Although I have plenty of good lighting for sewing in the new room,  I may have my hubby add some track lights later.  I have a lot of "later" ideas. The first thing I know I want to make is a design wall of some type. I have never had a design wall and this is the one "must have" that need to add in my new sewing space.  I have left one big wall open for this purpose. 

My Butterfly Moves Back In, Too

 

Seeing her sitting in this window again makes a gray day bright. Butterfly always thought of this as "her room" as she was my daughter's cat and spent many happy hours in here cuddling with Our Girl. For the past few months Butterfly has not even wanted to go in this room since my daughter moved out. At 12 years old, she does not like change. I am happy to see her back in one of her favorite windows on the world. Now Butterfly will keep me company while I sew in "our room".  Katniss has plans to make this room hers, too.  Some fur may fly over the quilts.

 

More picture progress coming soon.

 

I need to go put a hanging sleeve on a special sewing room quilt.

 

If anyone can guess which quilt I am taking about before I hang it, I will send them a special prize.

 

Hint #1:  it is one that I made a few years ago.

 

:-)

 

My New Sewing Room!

 

 Welcome to my new sewing room!

 

 

Yesterday was a sunny day and my new sewing room was ready.

 

This room faces west and gets lots of sun in through the double windows.

These colors are so bright and happy :)

There is a large walk-in closet ... which right now is full of my stored stash and sewing stuff.



 

This storage unit was left by my daughter when she moved.  It will soon be filled with lots of fabric.

 

 

 

There is a nice open space for setting up my sewing station.

 

 

Katniss approves, too. She has been helping all along with the painting.  It is a wonder her tail is not aqua. 

 

Today is Moving In Day!

 

More pictures coming soon!

 

Have a happy quilty day ... :)

WIP ... My New Sewing Room!

One wall and one closet done!

At the moment, my biggest WIP is getting *My New Sewing Room* up and organized.  While we are painting and such, I am still sewing in my little corner of the dining room and I am working on some blocks for a swap and some group quilts.  I am really looking forward to having my own sewing space where I will not have to pack everything away for company coming and the long holiday season.

This is the design seed palette I chose for my sewing room ...

I found this on I Heart Linen's Blog through Pinterest

I love this blog!

 I really like these colors and they work well with the wood tones and browns that exist in the room.

Here are the paint colors I picked ...

"Shimmering Blue Pool" on the walls ..."French Buttercup Petal" for accents ... "Classic Rice Paper" for the trim.  The slight off-white is our standard inside trim color throughout our house. These are inexpensive Walmart "Color Place" paints, which we have always found easy to work with,  cover well and are durable.  We are scraping the trim, lightly sanding the wood and panelling and priming all the walls first.

Here are a few more pictures ...

Before

Priming the big built-in closet

first paint coat, closet and walls

I am really liking the aqua blue on the walls!

The bright sunflower quilt is one of my favorites.  I put it up only for this photo op.  It is now safely tucked away in another room and may or may not find a permanent home in my sew sewing room.

This is our short term plan to get me into my own sewing room before the holiday season is upon us.  Since we are doing this on a budget, we are painting just over the "fake knotty pine" paneling that is almost 40 years old. Long range plans are to eventually replace the old drywalling and the dropped ceiling in this room, but that is the long-term plan.

I will not be buying any furniture for this room yet, either. Instead I will be making use of the existing closets and shelving, some plastic storage drawer units, tables that we already have and one storage type piece of furniture which my daughter left behind for now as there was no room in her apartment.  It will soon be home to lots of fabric and sewing stuff.

I have a  few "must haves" on my short term list.  A design wall of some sort is up near the top of the list. I have a few ideas of how I want to make this. 

Time to get some work done.

Have a happy quilty day!

:-)